New Jersey’s MIDNITE HELLION are proud to announce the release Bitchin’ At Champs! 11-15-2013 on Contaminated Tones as part of the label’s official live bootleg series, exclusively on cassette. With a layout done in old school cut-and-paste DIY fashion, the six-track cassette captures MIDNITE HELLION blazing away on stage.

Bitchin’ At Champs! 11-15-2013 will be officially released on March 4.

Bitchin’ At Champs! 11-15-2013 – Track list:

MIDNITE HELLION:

PJ Berlinghof – Vocals

Dan Sclavi – Guitars/Backing Vocals

Nick DiGiovacchino – Guitars

Bill Dripps – Bass/Backing Vocals

Drew Rizzo – Drums

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The band’s recently released 7″, limited edition vinyl single, Hour of the Wolfis also available on Witches Brew Records. The 7″ and more can be ordered directly from the band at www.midnitehellion.com.

MIDNITE HELLION is currently hard at work on material for a new full-length album and will hit the studio next month to begin recording for a summer 2014 release date. The band has been confirmed for the 2014 Ragnarökkr Metal Apocalypse, set for April 4 & 5 at Reggie’s in Chicago, Ill. For fest details, visit www.ragnarokkrmetal.com.

MIDNITE HELLION Live:

March 29 @ Brighton Bar – Long Branch, New Jersey

April 4 & 5 @ Reggie’s – Chicago, Ill. Ragnarökkr Metal Apocalypse

April 12 @ St. Vitus Bar – Brooklyn, New York w/ TOXIK and Deathrash

Praise for MIDNITE HELLION:

“Killer tunes!” – Ron Lipnicki, OverKill

“I’ve never felt so happy to get hit repeatedly in the face with a plastic fence.” –Brian “Lumberjack” Smith

HELL ON WHEELS TOUR 1987 – That’s it at the top! That’s my Hell On Wheels Tour 1987 cassette! This (now historical) tour featured: Grim Reaper, Armored Saint and Helloween. Whoa! As you can see, this cassette was a free sampler!. I obtained this old school Metal cassette sometime last Winter, at a thrift store. I paid a ridiculous price of 50 cents (U.S.) for this very cool cassette too. Yes, it plays just fine!

This tour was sponsored by MTV Headbangers Ball; yet there is no print or logo stating this on the cassette. The inside of the cassette jacket is blank. Notice the crack on the cassette tape box? That’s old school man!

Back in 1987, the Hell On Wheels Tour did not pass through the state I was living in; that being the very expensive state of Connecticut. Can’t see ’em all, I guess. Still, it super sucks I never saw this tour.

Here is what the spine of this cassette looks like:

Hell On Wheels Tour 1987 – Track Listing:

Side One:

Hell On Wheels Medley – Rock You To Hell / Isolation / Halloween

Grim Reaper – Night Of The Vampire

Side Two:

Armored Saint – Raising Fear

Helloween – Future World

Here is what the backside of the cassette tape jacket looks like:

The 3 record label logos printed on this cassette tape jacket are: RCA, Concrete and Chrysalis.

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Here are the studio albums that the bands were respectively supporting on this tour:

Stone’s Note: All 3 albums are a MUST for all generations of Metalheads! Metal be thy name!

GRIM REAPER – Rock You To Hell – (1987) RCA

ARMORED SAINT – Raising Fear – (1987) Chrysalis

HELLOWEEN – Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I

(1987) Noise Records

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Speaking of Power Metal pioneers HELLOWEEN… their 14th studio album, Straight Out Of Hell, will be released on January 18th, 2013! Whoa! Metal be thy name! Yes, I’m psyched-out about this! Are you?

JUDAS PRIEST – That’s it at the top! That’s my Judas Priest Painkiller / The Sharpest Cuts cassette! It’s still sealed in its original plastic wrap too. This is a 9 song greatest hits. This title was released back in 1990, via Columbia.

I haven’t opened this cassette to play it for I already have all these songs on CD’s. This very cool Judas Priest cassette I discovered at a thrift store last Winter. I paid a whopping 50 cents (U.S.) for this cassette. 50 cents!

Here is what the back of this Judas Priest cassette looks like:

On the back cassette sleeve is the track listing. A bunch of type (so tiny I cannot read it) is on the right side. With that said, there is this red type in the center that reads: Demonstration Not For Sale. Whoa! I always love it when I stumble upon a vinyl album, CD or cassette that was distributed as a promotional copy only. Usually these “demonstration” copies are not that abundant in the open marketplace.

I’ve searched around the worldwide web, discovering that this particular Judas Priest promo cassette has been offered for sale. In other words, the few occurrences when I found this cassette, it was no longer available. Whoa! I’m leaning towards this promo cassette being kinda rare.

That’s it at the top! That’s my cool Barq’s Metal Bites cassette tape! Plus it’s still sealed with its original plastic wrap! I bought this cool cassette for 50 cents (U.S.) at a thrift store about a year ago. I haven’t opened it cause I listen to cassettes rather infrequently. Barq’s is a brand of root beer, owned by the Coca-Cola Company.

I’ve recently seen this Barq’s Metal Bites cassette on ebay with a “buy it now” price of $10 (U.S.) and that doesn’tinclude shipping of $2.75. Eventually I’ll open this cassette and play it. In the meantime, it’s part of my Metal collection.

Barq’s Metal Bites mystery: I’m not certain if this cassette was ever sold in record stores. I would guess that this cassette was used as a promotion/giveaway; preferably in a grocery store. Who knows?

I already have the songs that are on this cassette on CD (with the exception of the live version of Balls ToThe Wall by ACCEPT. Overall, the compilation of songs on this cassette are not too shabby. Check out the track listing and other photos below:

Barq’s Metal Bites – back of cassette

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Barq’s Metal Bites – Track Listing:

SIDE ONE:

Bark At The Moon – Ozzy Osbourne

Wait For You – Bonham

It Ain’t Like That – Alice In Chains

Bang Bang – Danger Danger

SIDE TWO:

You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ – Judas Priest

Black Out In The Red Room – Love/Hate

Teas’n, Pleas’n – Dangerous Toys

Balls To The Wall (Live) – Accept

Barq’s Metal Bites – Spine

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* To the best of my Metal research, this Barq’s Metal Bites cassette was released back in 1991. The record label is SonyMusic (Special Products).

MOTORHEAD – Back sometime in 1990, Motorhead released a very loud and killer live album titled The Birthday Party, on Enigma Records. This is Motorhead playing fast, live and unapologetically raw. From wandering about the world-wide web and doing my Metal research, it appears that The Birthday Party is out of print. Rare Motorhead! I acquired my cassette copy of The Birthday Party sometime back in 1990. If I was to count the number of times I have played this cassette over the years, well, it’s been put to good Metal use. I am just ecstatic that I still have The Birthday Party and the cassette still plays!

When I mentioned the word raw in the previous paragraph, it is a very fitting and admirable adjective to always use with any live Motorhead recording. You just never know what you are going to hear with Lemmy and the boys. I swear, after all these years listening to The Birthday Party, upon the conclusion of Mean Machine, one of the band members of Motorhead lets out a gigantic belch that comes out loud, live and clear. Vintage Motorhead. I’m no expert at Motorhead belches, still I think the culprit was Lemmy himself.

The Birthday Party begins with the psyched out crowd in attendance singing loud and proud – “happy birthday to Motorhead”. Again, raw, vintage… Motorhead. The liner notes state that The Birthday Party was recorded live at Hammersmith Odeon on June 26th, 1985. Across the Metal board, the production of this live Motorhead concert is fantastic. There are no re-do’s happening, therefore the consistency of hearing Motorhead in all of their in your face, live glory, is inevitable. Lemmy’s vocals sound super, with this Motorhead lineup jamming out one classic after another. Iron Fist, On The Road, Ace Of Spades, Nothing Up My Sleeve, Metropolis, We Are The Road Crew and Steal Your Face epitomize classic Motorhead and their all captured live on The Birthday Party.

Based on the liner notes info, the Motorhead lineup for this 1985 Hammersmith Odeon concert recorded for The Birthday Party was: Lemmy on bass and vocals, Wurzel on guitar, Phillip (Phil) Campbell on guitar and Peter (Pete) Gill on drums. Just another vintage lineup caught live, in the legacy of Motorhead. Pete Gill was the drummer for Motorhead on the four new songs on the No Remorse double album from 1984 and Orgasmatron from 1986 as well. Pete Gill was also the original drummer for Heavy Metal/NWOBHM legends – Saxon. He was the drummer on Saxon’s first four studio albums. Motorhead history is cool.

At the end of my Metal day, I am incredibly content to have The Birthday Party to still listen to. I have seen The Birthday Party available at Amazon.com, a new CD is priced at over $200 (U.S.)! There are some used CD copies over there, available for a little over $20 (U.S.). I did see only one new cassette of The Birthday Party at Amazon.com for around $15 (U.S.). I’m sure there are probably other music websites out there where this classic Motorhead album can be had… it would be Metal prudent to shop around.

* The Birthday Party, recorded back in 1985, was in acknowledgment of Motohead’s 10th anniversary. The Motorhead timeline can date back to 1975, with 1976 being the year that the ultra classic Motorhead lineup came together, being: Lemmy Kilmister, “Fast” Eddie Clarke on guitar and Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor on drums.

* The Birthday Party was produced by Ian A. Wiener, as a Wienerworld Presentation.

Track Listing For Motorhead – The Birthday Party:

Side One:

Iron Fist

Mean Machine

On The Road

We Are The Road Crew

The Hammer

Metropolis

Side Two:

Ace Of Spades

Steal Your Face

Nothing Up My Sleeve

Bite The Bullet

The Chase Is Better Than The Catch

No Class

You can take the cassettes away from an Old School Metalhead… only you can’t take an Old School Metalhead away from the cassettes.

LIVE AND HEAVY – I bought this cool cassette sometime back in the early 1980’s. (See the pic of my cassette copy below). I cannot for the Metal life of me, remember if it was 1983 or 1984. It doesn’t really matter. The important thing about this cassette is it still plays! A mixture of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal bands are showcased on Live And Heavy… from Status Quo to Motorhead. (See complete track and band listing below). Each song is a live recording, (of course, why else is it called Live And Heavy?) A very fine aspect of this cassette is the vintage sound of the bands… these songs were recorded almost three decades ago!

I know for certain however, that I bought this cassette while I was in high school. The store where this cassette was found and subsequently purchased you may ask? Why, Bradlees of course. Bradlees was a department store, in the town where I grew up in. A large department store for it’s time was Bradlees, with two floors. The record department had a decent selection of mainstream Rock, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal for the day. Imports and underground Metal were not the norm at this department store. A vast selection of 45 rpm’s were always stocked at Bradlees, I bought a few there, that’s for sure. Still, it is this particular Bradlees where I landed this Live And Heavy cassette… and it is an import!!

Live And Heavy gets started in a fabulous way with track one: Smoke On The Water by the impeccable Deep Purple. I just can never resist classic Deep Purple, especially this song, which really encapsulates all the free spirit and sound of 1970’s Hard Rock. A lifetime favorite song of mine is Smoke On The Water. Sometimes I wonder to myself, just how important and influential Smoke On The Water was/is within the history of Rock and Hard Rock Music.

Whitesnake appears with their song – Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City and David Coverdale’s vocals sound classic. This Whitesnake song can be considered as Rock or Hard Rock… it’s not the Heavy Metal side of Whitesnake, which is still all very good with me. UFO is caught live here too, with Light’s Out In London, a kickin’ Traditional Heavy Metal song if there ever was one. Gillan Rocks out with Unchain Your Brain… a classic live Gillan song to have at that. Ian Gillan is an incredible legend of Rock period. After all of these years, I have never heard any singer sound remotely close to Ian Gillan’s vocals. Ultra Unique are Ian Gillan’s vocals, in my Metal opinion.

Def Leppard cranks out Rocks Off, from their 1980 – On Through The Night debut album. Two more lifetime favorites of mine are on Live And Heavy as well, with Motorhead bashing out White Line Fever and Rainbow playing All Night Long from their 1979 album – Down To Earth. Graham Bonnet is the lead singer for Rainbow on this live version of All Night Long. A supremely vintage and live version of Paranoid from Black Sabbath is the last track on Live And Heavy. Just hearing a younger Ozzy Osbourne sing on this live track is a Metal treat in itself.

Overall, the sound production is not of the highest caliber, still it is good enough for my Metal ears. As I stated earlier, this cassette of Live And Heavy is an import, with “Made In Ireland” printed on both sides of the cassette itself. The only logo to be found on the liner notes designating a record company is EMS. I can barely make out a line of type on the liner notes that reads: “All tracks recorded live on stage”.

If you happen to still collect and listen to cassettes as I do, don’t pass over Live And Heavy if it ever crosses your Metal path. I cannot verify if Live And Heavy was ever released on CD. This vintage live album for certain must have been released on vinyl… I just have never seen one.

Here it is… my cassette of Live And Heavy:

* I find the artwork of Live And Heavy to be Old School. There is a line of type on the liner notes that barely reads: “Design and Artwork: Cream”.

* The printing on this cassette reads below the words Live And Heavy: “See Inlay For Details”.

* Made In Ireland is printed on the left, while legal mumbo jumbo about copying rights are printed at the bottom side of this cassette.